2 College Planning Tips in 2 Minutes launches new free resource www.college2in2.com

  CLEVELAND, OHIO - 02/14/2017 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

New FAFSA Means New Confused Parents

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA is a financial aid form containing
over 100 questions that dives deep into a student and their family’s financial information.
Students must file this form in order to be considered for federal student aid. Federal student
aid includes Federal Pell Grants, federal student loans, and work-study opportunities. In
addition to determining eligibility for federal student aid, many states, private organizations,
colleges, and career schools rely on information from the FAFSA to determine eligibility for
nonfederal sources of aid. Up until this year, families would have access to this lengthy form on
January 1st. They would then fill it out with estimates and then update later based on their
most recent taxes. However, this year was different, allowing families to begin submitting on
October 1st. President Obama announced these significant changes to the FAFSA in
September 2015. The changes were put into place to make the process easier and more
helpful for students in the college planning process.
The first change deals with the date that the form is released. With the previous FAFSA
students had to wait until January 1 for the release of the form. This new change called for an
earlier submission date, allowing students to file a 2017-2018 FAFSA as early as October 1,
which will be a permanent change. October 1st is not the final date to submit, this is the first
day in which the FAFSA will become available to the public. Starting this year the FAFSA will
now use the “prior-prior” tax year information. For example, if you are applying for financial aid
for the 2017-2018 school year, you can use your 2015 tax information to complete the FAFSA.
This change is eliminating the lag time in between filing a preliminary FAFSA and then
updating once your taxes are done. This change was said to be put into place to simplify the
process, eliminating the need to use income estimates.
This new wave of changes is creating confusion among families, students and
universities alike. To help with this new FAFSA and all the other confusion that comes with
college admissions and financial aid, College Planning Network Director, Adam H. Blumenthal
has created a YouTube web series titled: 2 College Planning Tips in 2 Minutes. This channel
hosts a plethora of shorts videos that range from what to do over spring break as a junior,
searching for scholarships and tips for the new FAFSA changes. All of these videos can be seen
on Adam’s website www.college2in2.com “The new FAFSA came unexpectedly and several
universities don’t even know of the change”, says Adam, “this channel is here to provide free,
short and helpful tips to families and students on the go.” Every Monday morning Adam
releases a new video based on the time of year and what to do in regards to college
admissions and financial aid. “I’ve made it my mission to keep college bound students and
their parents in the loop of all of the changes throughout this already daunting process”, states
Blumenthal, “we like to call this year ‘the year of change’ because the SAT has now changed
and now there are several changes made to the FAFSA and we’re making it our goal to make
sure all students are aware of this to get the most financial aid they possibly can.” Check out
www.college2in2.com to keep your student and family in the loop.